7/7/16: Hey everybody! I hope you all are having a nice day; I know I am. Anyway, I would like to say to everyone that this story is currently undergoing heavy rewriting. Like, heavy rewriting. I'm pretty much starting this story from scratch, so if one chapter is written really good and the next one isn't, it's because I haven't made it that far yet. Now, for my repeat readers, don't you worry about the sarcasm levels or plot twists or anything. The plot has not changed at all. Hell, I'm even reusing quotes from the original story. It's just my old way or writing was a little bit disorganized, and I'm fixing that. I'm also getting rid of my A/N's and review replies because they were clogging up the word count. ^.^ Also, for the newbies who are here because of the Those Teen Years chapter I had, don't assume you know anything about Danny's past. XD I changed the back-story quite a bit, so it would be less of a branch-off.

Alright, that's all I had to say. Continue on, and as always, I own nothing but the idea. This is my disclaimer, if you could not tell.

Ch.1: Creator of the Dark-Net

Under most circumstances, Batman didn't cuss a lot, even when he was thinking to himself. It was an unneeded habit- after all, the precious seconds one could be swearing could be used to do something useful –and after a few minutes of hearing it in even casual conversations, cursing became quite irritating. Really, the only time Batman found himself swearing was when he was trying to make a point or when he was trying to convey how pissed off he was. However, tonight, the Dark Knight could not stop thinking, 'The fuck is this shit?!'

The apartment was small. Actually, no, it didn't even deserve that much. It was tiny. It had one room that was to serve as both the bedroom and the kitchen and one bathroom to go with it, as well as single window that the Dark Knight had climbed through. The kitchenette was normal enough, Batman guessed, but the other half of the apartment- the part that was supposed to serve as the sleeping area with maybe some leftover room for a dresser of some sort –had three tables pushed against the walls, creating a square that was lacking a side. There was a mattress stuffed roughly under the main table, a blanket and a pillow lying messily on top of the sleeping accommodation. However, that wasn't even the strangest thing about the apartment.

Two of the tables- the main one and one to the side –had four laptops sitting on top of them, two on each, along with cluttered notebooks filled with chicken-scrawl handwriting. Each laptop looked dead, but floating over the machines were holograms, all running different programs Batman didn't recognize. On the third work table, there was a large speaker, blaring some of the loudest and most obnoxious music the Dark Knight had ever heard in his life. The speaker shared the space with unidentifiable machines, all of which looked to be works-in-progress. What they were to be or used for, Batman didn't know, but he sure as hell was going to find out.

The mastermind behind the set-up was a boy, who looked like he shouldn't be living on his own yet. He was standing amongst the tables with his back to the Dark Knight, and he appeared to practically be glowing with the insane amount of light shining on him from the holograms. The teen wore casual clothing- just a black t-shirt and sweatpants –but there was a strange Bluetooth device in his ear, partially hidden by the boy's way-too-long hair.

According to the apartment's files Batman pulled up, it stated that the boy's name was Danny Fenton. Supposedly, he had moved in when he was 18 but was now 19, an appropriate age to be living on his own. However, Batman could not bring himself to believe this. He looked too young- more like seventeen –and from what little the Dark Knight had observed of the teen, his mental age was closer to, say, a five-year-old. To make matters worse, Batman had checked out some of the accounts he used to pay his rent, and the man must say, there was some pretty suspicious shit going down.

However, that was not what brought Batman to Las Vegas. No, no, no. The matter Batman was seeing to was much, much more important. Sure, it wasn't saving-the-world level of importance, but the Dark Knight's work was going to save a lot of heroes a lot of trouble.

The matter at hand was a deep-web program that was infamously but simply dubbed "the Dark-Net." The program was very similar to that of Calculator's system, which he used to connect all sorts of mercenaries with paying clients. However, this particular system had many more options and varieties of crime it catered to, which was not a good thing. Thus, the Dark Knight had taken it upon himself to personally see that it was taken down and, ultimately, destroyed.

It had taken weeks to track the signal from which the program was originating from. Batman himself hadn't even been the one to finally get the coordinates! No, it took the master of computers, Oracle, to finally break through every firewall and looping system the fucking thing had. While it was a little embarrassing for the Dark Knight to have help with the mission, especially since he was a mastermind with electronics himself, it was also relieving to finally be able to capture the devious son of a bitch running the show.

However, Batman had not planned for the perpetrator to be a random teenager, probably a runaway, living in a dinky, rundown apartment…

Again, what the fuck was this shit?

In this day of age, it wasn't odd for teens to be exceptional with computers, even being too smart with them for their own good. There were a lot of teenagers out there that knew how to do some pretty fucked up shit. However, what this teen- Danny –was doing- creating a fucking dark-web program -was beyond just being 'fucked up.' What he had managed to accomplish could put him in any heroes' rogues gallery; it could get him on frikkin death row for crying out loud! What the hell was this kid doing with his life?!

Completely oblivious to the Dark Knight and his plight standing directly behind him, Danny continued to boogey, dancing around like the immature kid he borderline was. He continued to sway back and forth until his music was abruptly cut off by a ringing sound. Three of the four holograms ceased to work. On the remaining hologram, a box popped up, saying in bolded print, 'Incoming Call.'

The boy visibly slumped at the interruption, sighing irritably under his breath. He had obviously been pretty wrapped up in his ridiculous dance, but that didn't stop him from reaching up to the Bluetooth, tapping something on the side of it. The call was accepted, and on the screen, a window popped up, a man peering out from inside it. He was unfamiliar to Batman, with well-kept dark hair, tanned skin, and a dark mustache lining his lips. The view behind the man was that of a dark room, with people working furiously on dozens of computers behind him, not unlike what the teen had set up in his own apartment.

However, the Dark Knight wasn't much interested in the actual call. His attention was caught up with the box on the corner of the screen, showing a very…interesting picture of what the teen supposedly looked like.

The Dark Knight had monitored the Dark-Net ever since the day he had found out about it, which meant calls, video-chats, and IMs. Heck, during those weeks, Batman had even managed to stop a few of the smaller cases that had been on the program because of the low security they had. It wasn't much, but it had been something. One of the main issues discussed frequently was the creator of the Dark-Net himself. In these discussions, Batman saw a reoccurring theme…

No one could agree on what the creator looked like.

It was a ridiculous conversation, but it's what the criminal underworld had a fantastic time talking about! Some claimed he was white, some said he was black, and others proclaimed that he was blue. People spoke of the creator being mid-aged, an elderly old man, or a ten-year-old kid. Hell, some of the users even said he wasn't human, that he was an anthro or-or a monster or something! Batman was only just now figuring out why that was.

In the box in the corner of the screen, from the waist up, was Danny. But it wasn't Danny at all. This Danny was much older, probably late twenties-early thirties, with snowy hair and radioactive green eyes. He stood much taller than the real-Danny was, and his ears were pointed, fangs peeked from his lips, and his fingernails were long, pointed claws. Computer-Danny only wore a white vest, showing off a toned chest that Batman doubted the real-Danny had. The only thing that remained the same, other than facial features, was the Bluetooth in the boy's ear, but it still managed to be different, as there was a translucent, green hologram hovering over one of computer-Danny's eyes.

"What?" The boy snapped at the man on the screen, his arms crossing over his chest in irritation.

The appearance of computer-Danny obviously spooked the poor guy on the other side of the line, and he seemed to quake in his seat. His eyes darted about, trying to look anywhere but at his computer screen and the intimidating figure displayed on it.

There was another thing the users of the Dark-Net liked to discuss: the Dark-Net's creator's name. See, many names had popped up for him: Ghost, Apparition, Osiris, Poltergeist, Reaper, Wraith, Doppelganger, Raven, Grimm, Daemon, Hades, Specter, Orcus, Pluto, Cerberus, Spirit, Haunt, Anubis, Hel, Banshee, and the list just went on and on. It never seemed to end! However, the most infamous of the aliases definitely had to be…

"Um… Mr. Phantom Sir…" The man started nervously, flinching when the image of the ghost-like figure rolled his eyes. "…you never sent me the instructions to that new program you wanted to upload. You know, the one that'll allow you to infiltrate-"

"I know the one you're talking about!" Danny snapped, shutting the poor man up instantly. The boy reached out with one hand, a second hologram screen appearing beside the one with the live video-feed, he muttered something that sounded like 'fucking idiots.' The teen searched through some sent emails he had pulled up, eventually finding the one he had been searching for. He quickly scanned through it before looking up at the man on the screen. "According to the email I sent you, it states that I clearly sent you the instructions."

The man shook his head, deepening the irritated look on Danny's face. However, the man's eyes were adverted elsewhere, so he was unaware to his mistake as he corrected, "Um, no Sir, you sent me an inscription code."

Danny let out one very long, very irked sigh that had the man on the other end paling. The teen took a moment to reach up and rub his face, reigning whatever anger he had inside of him. Then, very slowly and very deliberately, Danny asked, "Did you think that maybe you were supposed to crack the inscriptions to open the instructions I sent you?"

Somehow, the man paled further as he realized his mistake. "Oh… Um, no Sir, I didn't think about it-"

"Of course you didn't, you worthless imbecile!" Danny screeched suddenly, reaching up to rip his hair from his skull. "Your brain is the size of a pea! What possessed me to believe that you would have enough brain cells to figure out a simple process such as this?! It's not like it's an illegal operation or anything! No need for security precautions at all, you know, just in case someone manages to catch onto the scam! Nope, no need for them at all! Everything is all sunshine and rainbows in our world!"

The man on the other side of the line looked like he was going to pee his pants, cry, or both. "I'm really sorry, Mister-"

"YOU'RE FIRED!"

There was hardly a second between Danny's outburst and his finger hitting the 'end call' button, allowing all of the computers and the stereo to come alive again. He groaned a long, miserable moan as he rubbed his temples, attempting to thwart the migraine slowly forming at the very front of his skull. Under his breath, the boy mumbled, "God, I hate people." With another sigh, Danny dropped his hands from his head, turned to one of the other holograms, and pulled up live video-feed taping a desert village of some sort.

Hidden in the shadows in the back, Batman shook his head at the teen's display. It was quite merciless and had been totally uncalled for, as it was obvious that the man must've been a rookie in the criminal underworld. There was no other explanation as to why a simple precaution method would throw him through such a loop. That poor bastard.

As Danny worked, bat-a-rangs silently slipped into Batman's hands. Moving silently, the Caped Crusader from Gotham City sauntered over to where the stereo rested, once again blasting the obnoxious music Danny seemed to prefer. He unplugged it, cutting off all the noise, and asked, "So whatcha playing? I'm guessing it's some computer game, right?"

The teen became dead in his tracks. He didn't dare move an inch, for fear of it setting off the intruder behind him. However, he couldn't stay that way forever, and Danny slowly began turning around, holding his hands in the air in obvious surrender. As he came to face the Caped Crusader, his blue eyes- one covered with a translucent, green hologram; so that wasn't a computer generated disguise, it seemed -went wide for a moment before he calmed himself quickly, smiling nervously, despite the obvious danger Batman posed. With a casual tone, Danny stated, "Yeah, that's exactly what this is. I designed it myself. You like?"

Well, that was a confession if there ever was one. At least Batman had a complete confirmation that the Dark-Net was entirely his idea. Unfortunately, the situation remained solemn, as Batman was the slightest bit upset that this was what the teen was doing with his life. If this truly was Danny's masterpiece, then it was obvious he had skill, and a lot of it at that. The good things he could have done with this type of technology were practically infinite.

"Yes. It's, in a word, extraordinary." Batman replied emotionlessly, though a disgusted sneer had overtaken his features. It was sickening to use those words on such a harmful object, but that's what it was. Truly extraordinary, the Dark-Net was.

It wasn't hard to catch onto Batman's obvious distaste for the Dark-Net program, but it only elicited a dark amusement from Danny, a wide smile spreading across his lips.

Cutting straight to the chase, the Dark Knight nodded towards the hologram screen behind the boy and asked, "So what's so interesting about a small town in a desert? You got an ex you simply can't let go?"

Danny barked a loud laugh that sounded positively devious. The boy shook his head, tossing his black bangs around, and calmed himself down. Danny looked back at the Dark Knight, a spark twinkling in his eyes as he answered, "That's a cute thought, but unfortunately, it's incorrect. A+ for creativity, though. But no, I'm working a job. Yes, it's a big shocker, I know. Phantom?" Danny asked sarcastically, a fake look of shock on his face as he held a hand to his heart. "Working a job? How could I stoop so low?" The look dropped faster than a penny from the top of the Eiffel Tower. "Well, I'm in need of cash, and you know how it is in this big, dog-eat-dog world. It's all unfortunate but necessary, you see."

Damn, the kid sure was a talker. Batman shook his head the slightest bit at the teen, causing his grin to grow wider. The two locked in a staring contest, and as usual, it was Batman that won a few minutes later. However, it was for a different reason than most.

BUZZ BUZZ. BEEP BEEP.

'Incoming Call.'

Danny groaned irritably, irked by the sudden call. He shot a glare at the lone hologram hovering about the tables before looking back at the Dark-Net. Impatiently, he made a shooing gesture, saying, "You might wanna take a couple steps back real quick. Sorry about that, but my associates call at the most inconvenient times. I'm going to have to fix that sometime."

Hiding his ire for the teen's unrelenting casualness with him, Batman quirked an eyebrow. In an unusual snarky fashion mostly due to the irritating presence just few away, Batman asked, "What? Are you afraid to be seen with me in front of your friends?"

The teen held up one finger. "First off, I'm too fabulous for these brain donors. They're undeserving of my friendship. Second, if anyone's reputation is getting ruined, it's definitely going to be yours, buddy boy." Danny's bright smile was back. "See, I'm that kid that your mother warns you about. There is no helping me, and everyone on this program knows that! You, my friend, are a completely different subject, however. Can you imagine the sheer amount of conspiracies that would pop up about you and your villainy ways if you were to be seen with me?"

Ok…while the boy did have an ego the size of the Grand Canyon, he did make a point, one Batman could not ignore. Danny had cemented his place amongst the villains; it would be highly doubtful that a simple sighting of the Dark Knight would immediately make them wary of the teen. With this in mind, Batman stepped away from the camera's view, not bothering to hide the angry sneer on his face.

Danny waved cheekily before turning back to the computer, accepting the call without hesitation. Batman watched as another man- this one much more built than the other, a cigarette in his mouth, and an AK-47 strapped to his back –appeared on the screen. At the same time, the window in the corner showed Danny's generated appearance, which revealed a ten-year-old this time. The tiny creature had beady red eyes, pointed ears, and a cloak that encompassed his entire figure. Even though the appearance came off as young, it was still very much intimidating.

The teen barked another irritated, "What?"

The man on the screen rolled his eye, grabbing the cigarette from his mouth. He stated, "Don't snap at me, you whiny brat."

The child on the computer mimicked its master, glaring heatedly at the older man with his fiery eyes. Steam practically seemed to rise from his form as he said in a prepubescent voice, "Look here, Solis; I'm the ringmaster of this operation. Whatever I say goes. If I were to turn this operation in a different direction, everyone would listen. If I were to call it off completely, everyone would listen, including you, and you would be back to square one, only with significantly less cash than before. Now, who's the whiny brat here? Me or the one telling his boss to piss off?"

The man, Solis, scowled at the mention of the boy's power, unfazed by the language the supposed preteen used. Despite the obvious murderous intentions written all across the man's face, he forced himself to mutter, "That would be me, Phantom."

The smirk that twisted onto the child's lips was demeaning and nerve-grating. "That's what I thought."

Solis had a biting retort on the tip of his tongue, but the man controlled himself, keeping his mouth from uttering the words. Instead, he let the situation die, refusing to allow himself to be manipulated anymore by the little bastard, and stated, "I want an update on the target's whereabouts."

"Aw yes, one James Peterson, right? I finally found him yesterday, and- lucky you! -he hasn't entered your turf yet. He'll be there in two days, so I suggest getting your lazy ass in gear to intercept him. But it's just a suggestion. I don't really care what you do because you've already paid me and r-e-f-u-n-d is a word I never learned to pronounce!" Danny answered energetically, throwing his hands in the air with his signature cheeky but devious smile.

Solis grimaced, as if in pain (which was a likely thought, considering the boy's attitude), and nodded. Without another word, the older man ended the call, all the holograms coming to life again. Danny eagerly turned around to face the Dark Knight again, nodding towards the computer, where his associate's face had been. "Sorry about that little intrusion, but rest assured, Mister Solis won't be bothering us again."

"You're helping a mercenary track down a target?" Batman questioned, feeling bile rise in his throat but pushing it down easily.

The Dark Knight knew who Solis was. The man was on the FBI's and Interpol's top ten most wanted list, though he was in one of the lower places, and on many other countries' lists as well. Solis was a fairly good assassin- not anywhere near, say, Deathstroke's level of mastery but good –with a known habit of being particularly mean to his targets before he eliminated them. The fact that Danny was in contact with the man spoke levels of the teen's power, leaving Batman to wonder if the boy knew others high-up in the criminal underworld.

Danny nodded at Batman's question without much thought, as if he was unaware of the horrible fate he was leaving an innocent man to. To the boy's side, one of the holograms beeped once, catching Danny's attention. With some button pushing and scrolling, the teen pulled up an email and grinned. "Well, I guess I may have lied a little bit on the subject. See, I'm not one for spilling blood much, so I may have scammed Solis just a tad."

…huh?

At Batman's silence, Danny grinned, taking it for surprise (which may or may not have been true). "I have a contact sending a life-like android to Solis' turf while another one intercepts the real James Peterson. Don't worry; you won't have to do any saving innocent lives tonight."

The relief Danny had on his face struck Batman hard. Up until this point, there had been nothing to suggest that Danny wasn't anything more than a devious, narcissistic, greedy little shit that had decayed into something less than human. But here the boy was, scamming his fellow cons to help someone he didn't know, someone that couldn't repay him in any way, someone who would probably never know what Danny had done. It was selfless- not entirely, since the boy still managed to get his hands on some cash –and the teen didn't seem to think much of it, either.

This gave Batman hope for this kid's salvation.

The conversation with Solis melted away from the boy's thoughts; out of sight, out of mind for now. Danny frowned, seeing his new situation for what it was now. The cheer leaked out of his body, and he asked, "So, what happens now?"

When he first came to this tiny apartment, Batman was going to take down a hardened criminal, halt the criminal underworld in its tracks for awhile. However, now that he was here and saw how different his original perception was to reality, the Dark Knight had a different idea in mind. With a smirk on his face and his weapons slipping back into his belt, Batman stated, "I have an offer."

"Oh God, this feels like the beginning of a cliché…"

"I'll let you continue working with on your program, but there will be restrictions." Batman started, ignoring the eye-roll he got. "One, no more accepting jobs. If you're really in need of money, get a job, and whatever you can't come up with, I'll help. Two, if I need to find someone quickly, you'll do everything in your power to help me. And three, you have to alert me to every major scheme or job you come across so I may stop it." Danny seemed to be waiting for more, but all Batman said was, "I'm not forcing you to help me, but I'll be taking to prison if you don't want to cooperate."

Despite how easy Batman's deal was, Danny did not immediately bite at the chance to stay free. By his amused smirk, he even seemed to think the Caped Crusader's threat was funny. However, the teen didn't boast about a gadget he had or a contact he knew who could stop Batman (which was unusual, considering the teen's personality). For a few minutes, Danny refused to say anything at all, simply thinking, before he asked, "I'm sure if you really wanted to, you could run this program by yourself or find someone who can. I mean, you found my hideout, which I was sure was impossible until now. Why bother with a deal?"

The Dark Knight snorted, but it was practically inaudible, despite the eerie quiet hanging over the two's heads. "For starters, the Dark-Net is yours. There's no one else that could keep run it with the same ease you do. I don't have the time to maintain it, either, nor would I want to dump it on someone else, even though I do know people who are capable of doing so. I might as well get the person who knows it best to work for me."

They were simple words, but the slight complimentary tone in them had Danny smiling almost shyly, pleased with himself and his work (the illegal part of the system was being ignored entirely). The teen then shrugged and replied, "Yeah, fine, I'll work with ya. I'm sure we'll get along just fine, don't you think?"

As the Dark Knight began moving back towards the window to leave (no sense in leaving through the door and risk being seen by innocents), he commented, "Sure we will, just like you and Solis get along swimmingly."

"I would just like to state that that was entirely his fault. He started the bad blood when he first called me and greeted with a 'you listen to me, rat, or I'll kill you.' Needless to say, I made sure he was put back into place." Danny stated, his almost shy smile transforming into a sly grin the Dark Knight was sure he was going to have to get used to. The teen went to his stereo, unseeing to Batman's eye-roll, and turned the music back on. The Caped Crusader said nothing more as he began leaving, listening as Danny sang after him, "How do I say I'm sorry cause the word is never gonna come out, now~?"